OCR Text |
Show 1894.] FISHES FROM E. AFRICA. 89 PISHES. 1. PROTOPTERUS ANNECTENS, Owen. Tidal creeks at Mkonumbi. 2. OREOCHROMIS NIGER, sp. n. (Plate IX.) D. g. A.. -. L. lat. 29. L. transv. ~. Teeth very small, indistinctly bicuspid, the inner cusp being much larger than the outer; about 45 teeth on each side of the outer series of the upper jaw. Scales below the eye in two series. In a specimen eleven inches long the diameter of the eye is less than the width of the prseorbital, one half of the width of the interorbital space, and equal to the depth of the scaly portion of the cheek. The height of the body is contained twice and a third in the total length (without caudal), the length of the head one third. Pectoral fin extending to the anal; series of minute scales cover the rays of the caudal fin. Scales smooth. Greenish black; vertical and ventral fins and a spot on the operculum deep black. Two specimens, of which the larger is 11 inches long, were obtained from pools on the Kibwezi Eiver below its reappearance. One of these two specimens has distinctly three series of scales on the cheek, but on one side of the head only. Closely allied to Oreochromis hunteri, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1889, p. 70. 3. CHROMIS SPILURUS, sp. n. (Plate X. fig. A.) 15-16 D. -~. A. |. L. lat. 30. L. transv. 10 ' 8" 8+x small ones * Teeth distinctly bicuspid, with the inner cusp broadest, brown at the tip, small, about thirty-six on each side of the outer series of the upper jaw. Scales smooth, those below the eye in two series. The diameter of the eye of a specimen 4| in. long is less than the width of the interorbital space, and more than the width of the praeorbital or than the depth of the scaly portion of the cheek. Interorbital space flat. The height of the body is somewhat more than the length of the head, and contained twice and two-thirds or twice and a half in the total length (without caudal). The pectoral fin extends to or a little beyond the origin of the anal. Caudal nearly scaleless. Greenish, silvery on the sides ; a blackish spot on the end of the operculum, and another on the side of the caudal peduncle, just below the upper profile and close to the root of the fin. Dorsal and caudal fins with blackish spots arranged in rows. Several specimens were obtained from the Mwangaden Eiver in N . Giriama; the largest is 4 | inches long. 4. CLARIAS LAZERA, C. V. Ngatana. A Nilotic species. 5. EUTROPIUS DEPRESSIROSTRIS, Ptrs. Ngatana. 6. CLAROTES LATICEPS, Eiipp. Ngatana. Known from the Nile and West Coast. |